Of course there will be some surprises, but the core of the team is intact.

Based off past seasons, we can also predict which players will be the top performers in 2017. Each year the Chiefs hand out two awards for the team’s top performers: the Derrick Thomas Award for team MVP, and the Mack Lee Hill Award for team rookie of the year.

Last year’s winners were safety Eric Berry and receiver Tyreek Hill, respectively. Here are my predictions for the 2017 award winners, as well as potential candidates.

There are so many options here and surprise candidates that I didn’t even mention could jump out and make a case. I went with Peters here for two reasons.

First, Peters had a killer 2016 season. He didn’t see as many interceptions as his rookie year, but that’s because he routinely shut down his side of the field. Quarterbacks didn’t want to go anywhere near him. The scary thing is that Peters still has room to grow.

Second, with an offseason of training the Chiefs’ secondary could be even better than it was in 2016. Terrance Mitchell and Steven Nelson are poised to lock down their roles as the right and nickel corners, respectively.

If Mitchell and Nelson play well, that could open up more opportunities for Peters to make plays on the ball. After all, opposing QBs will have to throw somewhere, right?

Smith and Houston are candidates for this award as they have both won it in the past. Smith could be playing for his job with Patrick Mahomes waiting in the wings, so don’t be surprised if Smith has his best season yet.

Berry is an obvious candidate as well, winning the award the past two seasons. Hill and Kelce are the top offensive candidates. The offense will be centered around those two so they’ll see plenty of chances to load up their resumes.

Hunt and Kpassagnon are the only two that I think could win this award, although Hill was a surprise last year so I probably shouldn’t completely rule out other rookies on the team.

It’s believed by many, including myself, that Hunt will eventually take over the starting running back role. Maybe not right away, but soon. His traits are insane and he seems to be the most pro-ready out of all the Chiefs’ rookies.

If I had to choose one more rookie to list as a potential candidate, it’d be receiver Jehu Chesson. I see him starting out in a special teams-heavy role similar to Demarcus Robinson last season, but Chesson could step up in camp and surprise folks. He could also work his way in as the team’s kick returner.

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